Crowdfunding

GoFundMe Raises $33.8 Million for K–12 Teachers and Drops Major Donation to Education

• By Sri Ravipati
• 05/01/17

GoFundMe has helped K–12 teachers launch 72,000 campaigns and raise $33.8 million to date. To celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week this week (May 1-5), the global crowdfunding platform, in partnership with Yoobi, today launched a $100,000 national contest called “We Love Teachers,” which will provide 100 teachers donations up to $1,000.

To be eligible, teachers must:

• Create a campaign between May 1 and May 8 using the hashtag #WeLoveTeachers in the campaign description; and
• Raise $500 by May 18.

According to the contest rules, only teachers can win. If someone else starts a campaign for a teacher, the campaign organizer must transfer all winnings to the teacher. Participants who demonstrate a strong financial need for educational supplies will be selected.

As part of the campaign, "Yoobi will offer exclusive discounts on supplies to all K–12 teachers benefitting from GoFundMe accounts throughout the month of May," a company spokesperson said in an email. The company will also select one teacher among the 100 winning campaigns to receive essential school supplies for their entire school. 

In addition, seeing how frequently teachers and students turn to the platform to fundraise for classroom supplies and other educational resources, GoFundMe released a free, online guidebook, “GoFundMe for K–12 Teachers.”

Section one includes national and state specific data showing the growing trend of students using social fundraising to pay for school. A breakdown of funding by state for instance reveals that California K–12 classrooms have used the platform the most, with more than 8,280 campaigns totaling $4.7 million to date. After California is Texas (5,160 campaigns, $2.1 million), Florida (4,500 campaigns and $1.8 million) and New York (2,520 and $1.7 million).

Section two of the guidebook offers step-by-step instructions and important tips on how to see a campaign from start to finish. For example, GoFundMe recommends including photos and videos and telling a compelling story in the description box. Adding a wish list can be a great way to inform donors exactly how their donations will be spent, increasing their likelihood to contribute to the campaign.

GoFundMe said the donations and resource are part of its national initiative dedicated to improving the lives of K–12 teachers in the United States. The global social fundraising platform, which has raised $3 billion worldwide so far, has helped teachers raise more than $60 million with more than 750,000 donations to support schools, teachers and students nationwide in the past year alone, according to the company.

To learn more about “We Love Teachers,” watch the video below. Further information is available on the contest site.

Article updated at 2:30 p.m. PST: An earlier version of the story did not mention Yoobi, which is a partner for the "We Love Teachers" contest.